喜 | xǐ

In Mandarin Chinese, 喜 is a word with a number of meanings — and three similar but different pronunciations.

1. 喜 (Pinyin: xǐ 🔊)
   adj. happy, joyful, celebratory;
   n. pregnancy (that is, a happy event);
   v. to like, to love, to enjoy
2. 喜 (Pinyin: xī 🔊)
   1. Archaic form of 嬉 v. to enjoy, to play
   2. Alternative form of 熙 adj. bright, splendid, glorious
3. 喜 (Pinyin: chì), a variant form of 饎
   n. food
   v. to cook

According to Wiktionary, 喜 is an ideogrammic compound of 壴 “drum” and 口 “mouth”. In its turn, 壴 is said to be a pictogram of a “drum 口 with two ends, a base and feathers 土 on top”. It’s not clear what “two ends” refer to. Does it mean that the drum is placed horizontally? But historical forms of 喜 contain a variety of “drums” — some look like djembe and others like timpani.

Lawrence J. Howell writes in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters:

As per 壴 as described in 鼓 (round drum set on a stand) + 口 mouth → joyful voices at a feast with musical accompaniment → joy; gladness; like; be fond of; pleasure; happiness → good; desirable; congratulations.

Food and samba: totally my kind of party.

An alternative form of this character, 憙, contains our old friend 心, “heart-mind”:

Combining 喜 with another word for joy, 乐, we get 喜乐 (xǐlè), which means, well, “joy”. Happy joy. Real joy. Not any old semblance of joy but, you know — joy joy.

Other compounds of 喜 include:

• 喜 + 爱 = 喜爱 (xǐ'ài): to like, to be fond of, to be keen on, to love
• 喜 + 好 = 喜好 (xǐhào): to like, to be fond of, to be keen on
• 喜 + 气 = 喜气 (xǐqì): cheerful atmosphere
• 喜 + 感 = 喜感 (xǐgǎn): (neologism) comical, funny, humorous
• 喜 + 雨 = 喜雨 (xǐyǔ): welcome rain (after a drought)
• 大 + 喜 = 大喜 (dàxǐ): (literary) very happy, overjoyed; good news; wedding

I just came across this beautiful poem attributed to Tsangyang Gyatso, 6^th Dalai Lama (1683—1706); some alternative translations are here.

你见，或者不见我 我就在那里 不悲不喜	Whether you see me or not I’m right here Not sad not glad
你念，或者不念我 情就在那里 不来不去	Whether you miss me or not The affection is right here Not rising not falling
你爱，或者不爱我 爱就在那里 不增不减	Whether you love me or not The love is right here No more no less
你跟，或者不跟我 我的手就在你手里 不离不弃	Whether you accompany me or not My hand is in yours Not clinging not giving
来我的怀里 或者让我住进你的心里 默然 相爱 寂静 欢喜	Come into my arms Or let me reside in your heart Love with serenity Rejoice in silence

More photos related to joy, happiness, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.

乐 | yuè | lè

In Mandarin Chinese, 乐 is a character for two different words:

1. 乐 (Pinyin: yuè 🔊): n. music, tune, melody, song
2. 乐 (Pinyin: lè 🔊): adj. joyful, happy, glad, enjoyable, fun; n. happiness, joy, pleasure; v. to laugh, to smile, to enjoy, to love

乐 is a simplified form of the traditional character 樂. According to Wiktionary, 樂 is an

Ideogrammic compound: 糸 (“string”) + 木 (“wood”) — strings on a piece of wood, i.e. a wooden musical instrument. The oracle bone form shows two strings connected to the wood. In the bronze inscriptions, a 白 component was added in between the two strings, which may either represent the thumb (fiddling) or a phonetic part.

Lawrence J. Howell in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters gives a different explanation:

A depiction of an oak tree with acorns (ground into powder via a lengthy grinding process). Music and enjoyment are onomatopoeic, borrowed meanings, the pronunciation of the character simulating the din of a crowd → play (an instrument); amuse oneself; pleasant; fun; happy; delightful; comfort; easy.

Compounds of 乐 (1) include

• 乐 + 队 “team” = 乐队 (yuèduì): music band
• 国 + 乐 = 国乐 (guóyuè): national music
• 俗 “common” + 乐 = 俗乐 (súyuè): folk music
• 西 + 乐 = 西乐 (xīyuè): Western music

And those of 乐 (2):

• 乐 + 土 = 乐土 (lètǔ): land of happiness; paradise
• 乐 + 子 = 乐子 (lèzi): a little fun; a good time
• 快 + 乐 = 快乐 (kuàilè 🔊): happy; joyful; cheerful

One of the meaning of 快 is “happy”, so 快乐 is like “happy happy”. In its turn, 快乐 is a part of many “happy” wishes such as

• 生 + 日 + 快乐 = 生日快乐 (shēngrì kuàilè 🔊): Happy Birthday!
• 新 + 年 + 快乐 = 新年快乐 (xīnnián kuàilè): Happy New Year!
• 春 + 节 + 快乐 = 春节快乐 (chūnjié kuàilè): Happy Spring Festival, Happy Chinese New Year

In Japanese, a simplified (shinjitai) form of 樂 is used, viz. 楽. Similar to Chinese, 楽 corresponds to two different words:

1. がく (gaku): n. music
2. らく (raku): adj. comfortable, easy, simple; n. comfort, ease, enjoyment, simplicity

楽書の 壁をあはれむ 今朝の雪 蕪村 Rakugaki no kabe wo awaremu kesa no yuki The scribbling on the wall, — It looks pitiful, This morn of snow. Buson (Translated by R.H. Blyth)

Here, 楽書, literally “writing for fun”, is an alternative way to spell 落書き / らくがき (rakugaki 🔊), “doodle”, “graffiti”, “scrawl”, “scribble”, etc.

More photos related to music, happiness, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.